OK, I never cheated in school. Not out of any great virtue - mostly, I didn't need to, and when I would have needed it, I didn't get along well enough with my classmates to share answers. But also - it just wasn't done. I mean by that, not that nobody ever did it, but that it would be the sort of thing you hide. Dishonesty was something to be ashamed of. Today, people look at their heroes, their leaders, their models - and they see nothing but cheating. "It's a silent conspiracy creating the disease of low expectations: 'Well, we can't really expect people to be honest anymore.'" At the bottom of the article there's a list, "Top 5 Ways to Curb Cheating." Not on that list is something like, "have business leaders and politicians and role models who don't lie, steal and cheat." Bringing honour back into society begins with ourselves, not lecturing the kids. [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Schools, Cheating, File Sharing]

Heh. It's funny because it's true. ("It's all about community and sharing. But we told our venture capitalists that our exit strategy will make them rich. (Corollary: But you have to know someone to get into our conference/party.)") [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Web 2.0]

Anyone consider this a functioning educational system? Why are people still defending it? Via University Business. [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: none]

More about the phenomenon of computer use among the young. Good article overall, with a good summation of the major issues. Janice Friesen introduced this article on WWWDEV with the comment, "I think we may be raising a generation of screensuckers." Ironic, coming from the generation that was raised on televsion and the telephone. [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: none]

If you are still wondering what people mean when they talk about web 2.0 this article will serve as a gentle introduction. Good list of Web 2.0 websites at the end of the article. [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Web 2.0]

If you are still wondering what people mean when they talk about werb 2.0 this article will serve as a gentle introduction. Good list of Web 2.0 websites at the end of the article. [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Web 2.0]

Evidence that the journal pricing issue is reaching the mainstream consciousness, as this article notes that "Something's gone terribly wrong, frustrated scholars say, when scientific journals cost as much as new cars and diamond rings." I just love this response from Elsevier: "There is no serials crisis," said Elsevier spokesman Eric Merkel-Sobotta. "What there is, is a library funding crisis." Gosh, can I live in that fantasy land too? [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: none]

Just for fun, to welcome teachers back to the classroom. A sample: "I was just like that tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it; how could I know I was making a sound if no one else in my forest was making one back? Most of my students only talked to each other; several talked at length to themselves, and none of them ever stopped chewing gum. The few who did wish to explore a book's inner conflicts and moral dilemmas raised their hands quietly, accepted my nod and after saying two words were promptly drowned out by the noise of the others." [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Blackboard Inc.]

"Free peer-to-peer music file-sharing has become larger than the multibillion dollar recording industry with a growth trend that has become 'fundamentally unstoppable,' a media analyst told a state Senate committee exploring Internet piracy on Thursday." I agree with this sentiment. And though I've said it before, it is worth reiterating here: the educational publishing industry can expect exactly the same trend. And the same result. [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Books, File Sharing, Online Learning]

Thinking of using copy-prevention technology to protect online learning content? If so, be prepared for an angry consumer backlash. This is what happened when people who purchased a new copy of Intuit's new TurboTax software discovered it was restricted to a single computer. As this report summarizes, "In a fusillade of online attacks, customers are blasting the change... In hundreds of online product reviews and postings in newsgroups, customers are deriding TurboTax and urging people to switch to H&R Block's TaxCut software, which doesn't require an activation code. Some people are taking heed."CRLF [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Online Learning]

You've probably read something like this before, an article that complains about how difficult it is to find (or create) an original work in the information age. True, genius does show in any age. But what about the rest of us? We must struggle along, change a word here, an idea there. Adapt this article, about original ideas in postmodern art, to a new field, original ideas in digital content. That's new, right? [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: none]

We'll no doubt find publishers complaining that this is illegal too. The Free Book program involves leaving copies of books in public places with the intent that they be found and read. A sticker on the book identifies it as a free book, and readers can register the found book on the Free Book website. "More than 10,500 people, who call themselves 'bookcrossers,' have been united by a love of reading, serendipity and sleuthing." [Comment] [Direct Link] [Tags: Books]